SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents have beheaded seven Afghan civilians accused of spying for foreign and Afghan government forces in the past 10 days, a senior Afghan intelligence official said on Saturday.

Taliban militants have increasingly resorted to executing those they accuse of spying for NATO and U.S.-led forces in the last two years alongside more suicide and roadside bombs, tactics copied from Iraq that officials say are aimed at instilling fear.

"In the last 10 days the Taliban beheaded seven Afghan civilians without any proof," said the intelligence official who declined to be named.

He said the killings had taken place across the country, but mostly around Kandahar, Ghazni and other areas of the south.

"The Taliban are putting pressure on civilians to gain support," he told Reuters. "When these people are caught they are tortured first and t